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Saturday, January 17, 2009

Where I've Been

Since my birthday, it's been a social week and a week of the big To-Do list.

Things on this To Do list included things like work with poetry student to buy new bed. Many were related to Crab Creek Review, which should be published next month. There is a ridiculous amount of details associated with editing a literary journal and 80% of them have nothing to do with editing.

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For my birthday, I received Luck is Luck, Poems by Lucia Perillo from my friend Martha. When I opened the gift many in the room made the good-sound noise that people make when they see something they like. Many had read it and loved it. I thought the cover was beautiful until I realized one of the birds was dead. I'm sensitive to images like that, to the goat poem by the woman poets whose name isn't coming to me this early (Jeannine gave me this book.) I will tell you later what I think about the poems in Lucia's book. I have read her work before and enjoyed it, so I'm guessing these will also satisfy.

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On Thursday, a good poet friend who is from my first writing group in 1995 (maybe 96?) came to visit. I helped her with her paperwork in applying for an MFA. I forgot all that goes into applying for an MFA. What I can say is, one of the very best things I've done for myself as a writer is return to school and get my MFA.

They are pricey little diplomas. By the time this poet is done, there will be $20K to $30K+ spent. Of course, someone once pointed out to me that it is the same price of a mid-sized Sedan. They told me to: Just consider your education is one less Camry you'll own in your lifetime. And honestly, I'd rather have had the experience of my program than a Camry, so I feel I came out ahead.

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Today two poets are coming out to visit me. We will write in the Poetry Barn together. We will eat cheese, rosemary crackers, and have some homemade pumpkin pie. One poet wasn't able to make my birthday celebration so wanted to visit this week, the other made my bday celebration and wanted to visit this week. I will let you know if we get any poems from this and also if we did any good writing exercises.

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On the day before my 40th birthday, I started violin lessons. How I know I live in a small town is that I left the violin shop with 2 violins to try out and the only thing the violin shop owner had from me was my name and phone (both which I wrote down myself). He required no Visa number, no driver license verification, nothing. But when the citygirl I am asked, "Don't you need anything from me before I leave with these?" he handed me a small piece of paper and said, "If you'd like, you could leave me your name and number..." If I like. I left the store with $3000 worth of violin and bows and wandered to my car.

Recently my husband was having my laptop fixed and the man wouldn't go into the back room to get a part because he didn't feel comfortable leaving my husband in the front of the store alone.

I realize there are people who just trust other people and sometimes I wonder if their trust that they will do the right thing actually makes people do the right thing. I'm not sure. I tend to trust people until they show me otherwise. Though once someone has broken that trust (or even a loyalty in a friendship), it is very hard for me to get that back.

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Last night for family movie night we watched Enchanted. This is probably my favorite Disney movie ever. It is hilarious because it pokes fun at Disney movies and princess who break out in song. And they include the handsome Patrick Demsey is in it for Grey's Anatomy fans and the gorgeous Susan Saradon for Rocky Horror Picture Show fans.

I normally slam Disney for their movies because they tend to kill off the mother so the adventure can begin (note: there was a missing mother in this movie, but I can overlook it) and the women have one goal, to find their prince. This movie is pretty interesting in that it puts a Disney in the center of New York city and she has to figure out what she really wants.

The movie is appropriate for the whole family too. No random swearing, violence, or naked people in beds... (Of course, you may not want to see this movie now after knowing this.)

6 comments:

Confession: I froze when I read the second paragraph of your post. I was planning to send in my poems to Crab Creek Review in a matter of days (just some final editing...) and now I'm a little worried -- is it too late?